On January 30th 1972, 14 people died when British soldiers from the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights protesters in the Bogside district of Derry. The march was organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to protest against the policy of internment without trial, introduced by the British authorities on August 9th 1971 in an effort to arrest suspected Irish republican paramilitaries. Demonstrations were also banned at the time of internment. The authorities knew of the march planned for 30th January, but allowed it to proceed in the nationalist areas of Derry.     

Following the publication of the Saville report on June 15th 2010, David Cameron issued a formal apology on behalf of the United Kingdom: ‘The conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt. There is nothing equivocal. There are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong’.

This video shows footage of the march, of the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment being brought in, and the shootings in Derry on January 30th 1972. 

From The Archive

Coming to Terms with the Past: Northern Ireland

What role should historians perform in relation to the Northern Ireland Troubles? Do – indeed can –  the writing and teaching of history contribute to our coming to terms with Ulster’s traumatic past? Richard English argues that historians have a practical and constructive role to play in today’s Ulster.